Cold Fish and Hidden Talents
by rach0486
Summary: Sam gets a cold. She gets over it and goes fishing with Jack. Jack discovers Sam's hidden talent. IT'S NOTHING KINKY I SWEAR!


STARGATE SG-1: Cold Fish and Hidden Talents.  
  
Summary: Sam gets a cold. She gets over it and goes fishing with Jack. Jack discovers Sam's hidden talent. I SWEAR IT'S NOTHING KINKY!  
  
Category: Humour.  
  
Season: 5(ish).  
  
Rating: don't know. Whatever the show is I suppose.  
  
Warning: could either be absolutely hilarious or just lame.  
  
Spoilers: Original film, COTD, Emancipation, Broca Divide, Upgrades, Beneath the Surface and The Curse.  
  
Pairing: Jack/Sam (mainly friendship, but implied romance).  
  
Disclaimer: I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW MUCH I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING THAT IS INVOLVED WITH STARGATE SG1! (sigh). I fully acknowledge that all the characters and events of the following story do (technically) belong to Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Production and Gekko Productions (great name!). I am NOT making any money out of this story, though if I was I would very much appreciate it if I WASN'T sued. Thank you. P.S; I also don't own any of the films referenced in this story or Dr Pepper and the above disclaimer also applies to them. OK, that's all. Please enjoy!  
  
Author's Note: Yes, it probably is as silly as it sounds! It was just a daft idea I had when I was ill one day. It's amazing what a cold can do to your brain! . I'm sure there was something else I was going to say . Oh, well I'm sure I'll remember it later. ANYWAY! I'll shut up now and just let you read it. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! Cheers.  
  
Cold Fish and Hidden Talents.  
  
"Carter? You OK?" Jack asked as Sam finished her coughing fit.  
  
"Sure sir," she replied before another bout nearly caused her to lose her balance. "Just a cough is all."  
  
They carried on walking to the lift.  
  
"So I was wondering," Jack ventured as the doors closed in front of them, cutting them off from the hubbub on base. "How about taking me up on that fishing trip at last, eh Carter. What d'you say?"  
  
Sam thought for a moment. They did have two weeks downtime ahead of them. And she had nothing better to do .  
  
"Oh, come on Carter! What's the worst that could happen?" Jack said when she didn't reply for a while.  
  
Sam stared at him. "Oh you know it's gonna be a disaster now, don't you?! Have you never seen that Dr Pepper ad?" she taunted. "You just had to say that. Way to go Colonel!"  
  
Jack leaned against the back wall of the lift and accepted his brush off like so many other times before.  
  
But this time, Sam took him by surprise .  
  
"So, when are we going then?" she asked with a flirtatious glint in her eye.  
  
"Well I was thinking Monday but . wait, WE? You mean -"  
  
"On one condition."  
  
"Name it!"  
  
"We can drop the formalities! I'm not spending, what? A week? Ten days?"  
  
"Two weeks if you want!"  
  
"OK. I'm not spending two weeks in a cabin with you, with no phone, internet or TV -"  
  
"Hey! Who said anything about no TV?! Come on Carter! Give me some credibility please!"  
  
Sam smiled. "- And calling you sir the whole time," she finished.  
  
"Fine!"  
  
The doors of the lift ground open and the pair walked off base into the baking mid-afternoon sun.  
  
"So pick you up a 9am, Monday?" Jack asked as they got to his car.  
  
"Sure," Sam replied with a grin. She carried on to her own car, a few lots away.  
  
Jack heard, as he unlocked the car, her go into yet more paroxysms of coughs. He smiled sympathetically. Driving home that Friday night seemed to take half the time it usually did for Jack as he eagerly awaited Monday morning.  
  
*  
  
That weekend had been dreadful! It all started on Saturday morning when Sam woke up to find her throat felt as if there was a golf ball lodged in it. Every time she tried to stand up, her entire head swam terribly and caused her to keel back over into her chair.  
  
There was no way she could phone the colonel and cancel their trip for the simple reason that by Sunday morning, she couldn't even whisper, let alone hold a telephone conversation. Besides, he had seemed so excited about it on Friday night that she didn't want to let him down.  
  
So, Monday morning had arrived and Sam not only felt like death warmed up, she looked it as well! Her eyes and nose were red from sneezing so much and her hair seemed determined to stay a mess no matter how much she dragged her comb through it.  
  
Jack of course arrived at nine on the dot. Amazingly, he didn't scream or show any other signs of horror at her appearance. Instead, he seemed somewhat amused by her state.  
  
"Just a cough, huh?" he said when she opened the door to him.  
  
Sam glared at him a best she could before another sneezing fit tore her away from his eyes.  
  
"You realise," she said between sneezes. "This is . your . fault!"  
  
"MY fault?!" Jack said closing the door behind him and following her into the living room. "How did you work that little gem of wisdom out?"  
  
"Well -" But before she could even contemplate another word, her brain began to swim again causing her to involuntarily fall backwards into Jack, who managed to catch her with such ease that he couldn't have planned it smoother.  
  
Once he had her safely on the sofa, where she couldn't fall any further, she continued.  
  
"You said what's the worst that could happen!" She stopped as another round of coughing surfaced. "I told you it was a bad move!"  
  
Then she hit him on the arm. Or she would have if her fogged mind hadn't interfered with her aim and caused her to brush past his arm and nearly collapse across his front.  
  
Jack tried his damnedest to stiffly his amusement.  
  
"So I guess you'll want a rain check on the fishing trip then?" he said taking her temperature with the back of his hand.  
  
"NO!" she protested pushing his hand away, even though having his cool hand pressed against her burning brow was exceedingly soothing. "I still want to go! I'll be fine!"  
  
Jack shook his head. "I'm not letting you leave this house until you're 100% better . well, 80% at least!"  
  
Sam pouted - a sight very, very rarely seen by Jack's eyes, to the point at which the expression seemed completely new to him.  
  
"Sam, no! You're burning up. You need to rest . that's an order. OK?"  
  
Sam fell back against the back of the sofa and folded her arms across her chest like an eight-year-old.  
  
Jack leant his arm on the top of the sofa and brushed her hair away from her forehead.  
  
"So much for no formalities," she said in response to his 'order'.  
  
"OK, here's the deal," Jack said trying to appease her. "You stay here and let me look after you until you're better. Then we go fishing for the rest of downtime. That sounds good?"  
  
Sam glanced up into his cool brown eyes. To her, it sounded very good - to have him waiting on her, hand and foot, for a week or so and still have time to see his cabin in Minnesota too!  
  
"Deal," she smiled.  
  
Jack stood up and before Sam had a chance to haul herself off the sofa, he scooped her into his arms as if she weighed no more than a feather. He carried her upstairs and laid her gently on her bed. He went into the en- suite bathroom to fix her a glass of water.  
  
"What sort of films do you like to watch when you're ill then? Sci-fi? Romantic Comedy? Action?" he said as the water flowed into the glass tumbler.  
  
As he turned off the tap, he thought he heard her say something but her illness and the distance between them drowned out her words.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't catch that," he said coming back to her side.  
  
Sam glanced down as she nervously played with the tissue in her hands.  
  
"Disney," she said quietly. "I like watching Disney films when I'm ill. They always cheer me up."  
  
Jack looked at her. The look on her face was enough to melt even the stoniest of misers. She seemed so embarrassed and vulnerable about her choice that Jack couldn't help but want to just cradle her in his arms and rock her to sleep.  
  
"Which one's your favourite?" he asked.  
  
"Mulan . that or Aladdin . or Hercules," she said with a childish grin on her face.  
  
The TV was situated at the bottom of her bed with all the videos in a box underneath it. Jack pulled all three tapes out and set them to one side while he set the machine up. He set the first tape rolling and went off sorting things out around her house.  
  
It wasn't long before he came back into her room carrying a mug of steaming Honey and Lemon (à la Jack!).  
  
"Thanks," Sam said not taking her eyes off the cartoon in front of her. She took a sip and then looked at Jack with wide eyes.  
  
"What the hell is in this?" she demanded.  
  
"Honey and Lemon juice!" Jack replied indignantly. ". Plus Aspirin . and Southern Comfort."  
  
By now, Sam's eyes were as wide as Jack had ever seen them.  
  
"Are you trying to kill me?!" she squeaked.  
  
"Hey! It's always worked for me!"  
  
Sam eyed her mug suspiciously before taking another, larger gulp of the warm, soothing liquid. Heaven was about the only word that described how it tasted and how gentle it was to her aching throat.  
  
"So you like it then," Jack said as she almost downed the whole mug in one.  
  
Sam simply nodded as her attention switched between the TV and the mug.  
  
That day seemed to fly by in a heartbeat. They had gone through all three of the films Sam had picked out earlier and had by now ventured onto the Romantic Comedies (Sam's second choice in genre).  
  
By the end of 'When Harry Met Sally', a debate had arisen between the.  
  
"He's totally wrong though!" Sam insisted.  
  
"Of course he's not! Well, I suppose there would be a few exceptions, but most of the time, men and women can't be just friends!"  
  
"That's ridiculous though! I have plenty of male friends and I don't want to sleep with any of them!"  
  
"You mean those goons at the Academy? Of course you don't want to sleep with any of them! I'd be worried if you did! They're all jerks!"  
  
"Not all of them!"  
  
"Really!?"  
  
"Yeah! There was Lieutenant Larson. He was one of my best friends at the Academy - great guy! . great body too if I remember rightly!" she added pensively.  
  
"Aha! You see! Name me one of your closest friends who you haven't thought of like that, then! Go on! Just one!"  
  
Sam thought for a moment, then turned and looked Jack straight in the eye.  
  
"Daniel."  
  
Jack sat stunned. He hadn't expected her to be quite so on the game. Still, despite her current ailment, he decided to taunt her further.  
  
"Seriously? You've never thought of Daniel like that?" he said in a curious tone.  
  
"No!" Sam replied jubilantly.  
  
"I suppose that's about right, though. I mean, he was married when you first met him. That had to figure in the equation?" he nudged further.  
  
"Maybe," Sam said carefully.  
  
"So if he hadn't been married ."  
  
Jack trailed off and looked at Sam, whose expression was half thoughtful and half amused. She raised her eyebrows slightly and then made the fatal mistake of smiling.  
  
"There!" Jack cried triumphantly. "I knew it! Billy Crystal was right!"  
  
Sam snapped out of her reverie and pelted a pillow at his head with perfect aim.  
  
"You did that on purpose!" she crowed.  
  
"Of course!"  
  
Sam turned away and shook her head in disbelief. Neither spoke for a moment or so, until .  
  
"We're friends, though. Right?" Sam said.  
  
Jack smiled, or more accurately, grinned out right.  
  
"Yeah," he said with the subtlest hint of sarcasm in his voice that Sam didn't detect. "We're friends."  
  
With that, he stood up and gathered together the empty bowls of Chicken soup and went to leave.  
  
"Where are you going?" Sam asked when he was at the door.  
  
"Well, I'm gonna wash these up then go home for the night."  
  
"Oh, don't go. You might as well stay here. You'll just be coming back tomorrow," she pleaded.  
  
And he certainly didn't need much persuading. So this is how it was for the next four days. Sam up in her bed all day watching every film she could lay her hands on. Jack doing all he could to make her feel better and sleeping on the sofa at night. This was about the only place he could find that wasn't cluttered with science awards or parts of motorbike machinery that seemed to fill the entire spare room.  
  
*  
  
By the time Friday morning came, Jack was ready for a holiday form this holiday! It wasn't that he minded running around for Sam like he did, but she could be quite demanding when she wanted to be. Probably comes from having a USAF General for a father!  
  
Still, Friday morning had arrived and he was exhausted! So much so that he wasn't even aware of his beautiful 2IC creeping into the living room where he slept with two cups of coffee in her hands.  
  
She set one of them down in front of him and curled herself up on the armchair opposite with her own.  
  
Jack was still asleep and she didn't dare wake him since she had had him running around for her all week. She thought he deserved a rest. 'Let sleeping slaves lie' she thought as she drank her coffee. To be honest, she had been feeling better since Wednesday morning but was so enjoying raiding through her film collection and ordering her CO about as she did that she had kept the charade up for a couple of days. Now, though, she had watched everything she wanted to and was ready to go fishing.  
  
Finally, Jack began to stir. He started when he opened his eyes and saw Sam smiling back at him. He noticed the coffee she had prepared.  
  
"What?" he said sleepily. "No full cooked breakfast?"  
  
Sam smiled as she watched him pull himself up off the sofa and reach for the mug. His limbs were still stiff and heavy from sleeping but somehow, he managed it.  
  
"So you wanna go fishing today?" she asked knowing fine well what the answer would be.  
  
Jack seemed to wake up instantly when she said this.  
  
"Yes!" he said hurriedly. "You sure you're up to it?"  
  
Sam nodded and inwardly smiled as she thought of how she had been 'up to it' since Wednesday.  
  
By ten o'clock, they were well on their way.  
  
*  
  
They stopped off along the way for a lunch break. Just by the gas station off the inter-state was a dinner that looked like it hadn't been changed sine the 50s. It wasn't long before they were settled in one of the corner booths, patiently waiting for their food.  
  
". So then Daniel comes traipsing up the sand dunes, takes one look around base camp and is like 'That is a nice tent! Oh, we each get a tent. That's nice!' . I swear, Kawalsky had to be restrained for about an hour!"  
  
Jack was explaining some of the funnier moments of their first mission to Abydos.  
  
"I'm not surprised!" Sam said between laughing. "It's a wonder he survived that place at all!"  
  
"Well he didn't! Ra had one of those sarcophagus thingies, though!"  
  
A sudden bright flash of light brought both Jack and Sam out of their amusement with a jump. Almost as one, they glanced down the table to see a small girl, not much older than ten, stood with a Polaroid camera clutched in her hands. Jack and Sam looked at each other briefly, trying to figure out what to make of the situation.  
  
"Carla!" the girl's mother shouted across the dinner. "What have I told about this?" She angrily took the camera off Carla before turning to Jack and Sam. "I'm really sorry. She got it for her birthday last week and hasn't stopped using it since. I hope she didn't disturb you?"  
  
"Oh no! Not at all!" they said at once.  
  
"Juts a bit of a surprise. That's all," Sam added for good measure. Secretly, she was desperate to see how it had turned out. From what she could gather, they had been laughing their heads off at the time. It certainly would have made for an interesting action shot. Unfortunately Carla was holding fairly close to herself.  
  
"So how old are you then?" Jack asked lifting Carla up onto the seat next to him. She looked absolutely adorable next to him!  
  
"Ten!" she answered proudly.  
  
"Ten! Wow! That's nearly college age!"  
  
Carla grinned, showing two big gaps where her front teeth should have been.  
  
Jack drew back with a look of comic suspicion on his face.  
  
"Who's been kissing all the boys then?" he said playfully.  
  
Carla looked at him with such an air of irreverence that Sam couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Why would I ever lower myself to that level?!" she said haughtily.  
  
Sam burst out laughing. "You tell him!"  
  
Carla grinned once more and ran off back to her table.  
  
"That's quite a little firecracker you've got there, ma'am," Jack told her mother.  
  
"Oh, please. It's Ella," she insisted.  
  
Jack held out his hand to her. "Well Ella, it's nice to meet you. I'm Jack. This is Sam."  
  
Ella looked at the two of them for a moment.  
  
"So," she said suddenly. "You two been together long?"  
  
Sam's jaw dropped - literally! She was about to politely correct the lady when.  
  
"About five years now, actually. We're just going up to Minnesota for out anniversary," Jack answered.  
  
Sam was aware of him taking hold of her hand, a sort of code for 'just play along'. She was so busy trying to comprehend what was happening that she just let him do all the talking.  
  
"Oh that's lovely! How did you meet? - if you don't mind me asking," Ella pried.  
  
"No, Ella. That's quite alright. We met through work."  
  
'Good Jack. Keep it vague,' Sam thought.  
  
"See, I got told they were transferring some new hotshot to my department called Sam Carter. Now, I of course assumed 'Sam' as in guy. So in walks my Sam on her first day and I swear to God! All she had to do was say 'hi' and smile and she had me!"  
  
He hazarded a look at Sam to make sure she wasn't fuming at him. He was pleasantly surprised to see her smiling - no, more like grinning profusely - at him. In his peripheral vision he saw Ella wipe a tear away from her eye. He looked at Sam with the kind of glint in his eye that could only have been interpreted as 'lay it on thick!'  
  
Holding her hand in his, he lifted it to his lips and gently kissed it. For her part, Sam slid closer to him in the booth. Close enough for him to slip his arm around her waist.  
  
"Have you two ever thought about getting married at all?" Ella asked, completely captivated in the couple's 'story'.  
  
Jack smiled once more.  
  
"Actually, I was going to propose tonight," he said turning to Sam. He heard Ella gasp.  
  
"You were?" Sam said, trying to sound sincere. "If it helps, I was going to say yes."  
  
Luckily their food arrived just at that moment, saving Jack and Sam from sharing yet more intimate lies about their relationship. Ella excused herself and rejoined her family, but still every so often she would look back at them as she made her way across the dinner.  
  
"Five years?" Sam said when they were part way through their meal.  
  
"What? I didn't want her to feel bad for making the assumption, after the whole thing with Carla. She'd have been mortified, poor woman," he said glancing over his shoulder.  
  
Sam sat for a moment with a thoughtful expression on her face.  
  
"Alright. Penny for them!" Jack said looking back to her.  
  
Sam looked at him blankly for a moment before picking up on what he was talking about.  
  
"Oh, I was just wondering if that's what you really thought about me when we first met, that's all."  
  
She avoided looking directly at him for a while, in case he was feeling nearly as uncomfortable as she was.  
  
"Well, obviously I flowered it up a bit for her and left out the whole 'against scientists' bit but . Nope, not a word of it! I couldn't stand the sight of you!" he joked.  
  
Jack insisted on paying for the meal, seeing as he couldn't cook and would therefore have to rely on Sam's culinary skills for the rest of the week, leaving road meals as his only time to be the provider. Plus Sam had left most of her money in the car, so he didn't have much choice either way!  
  
Meanwhile, Sam had a little business of her own to take care of. As Jack went off to pay, she made her way over to Carla's table and crouched down beside the girl.  
  
"Carla," she said quietly. "Can I have the photograph you took of us earlier."  
  
Carla looked at her dubiously. For some reason, she seemed to be very attached to it.  
  
"I'll give you a dollar for it," Sam continued.  
  
Still, Carla clung to it.  
  
"Five?"  
  
There was a moment of indecision that played across Carla's face as she glanced between the photo and the money in Sam's hand. Finally she gave it up, just in time for Jack to hail Sam over to leave.  
  
"What was that all about?" he asked on the way back to the car.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Sam, share!"  
  
"You really wanna know?"  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
"I was just inviting them to our wedding."  
  
She started up the car as Jack laughed at her.  
  
"Very funny Sam! Very funny!"  
  
"You think I'm kidding?"  
  
That shut him up!  
  
*  
  
Sam was amazed at Jack's staying power. When it came to fishing, he could have the patience of a statue! She, on the other hand, was not so readily patient. She had spent the first day out on the pier at his side with her own line and everything and had genuinely enjoyed herself . for about two hours, but the fact was there just simply was NO FISH IN THE DAMNED LAKE! The only ripples they had seen had been from casting their lines.  
  
The next day, Sam had endeavoured to find alternative occupation. Not that there was a great deal to do in the middle of nowhere. Still, she tried.  
  
"Jack! What's this?" she called coming out of the cabin with a grey metal box that had rusted shut.  
  
Jack took it off her and just managed to prise it open.  
  
"My god!" he exclaimed. "I haven't seen this for years! Where did you find it?"  
  
"It was in one of the window-seat-box things. Why?" she replied curiously.  
  
"This is my dad's old remote control submarine! I thought we'd lost it ages ago."  
  
Carefully, Jack took the toy out of its box and placed it in the water at the edge of the lake. He flicked the switch on the controls and, sure enough, the tiny machine sprang into life.  
  
"I don't believe it! It still works!" Jack said jubilantly as he guided the sub all around the lake.  
  
"Can it dive?" Sam asked as some plan began to form itself in her mind.  
  
"Of course!" Jack replied hitting another button on the controls.  
  
They both watched as the miniature periscope disappeared below the surface of the water.  
  
"Sweet!" Sam said as her plan was fully formulated in her mind .  
  
Jack didn't see much of Sam the next day. She spent most of her time rooting around the kitchen finding scraps of metal, wire and batteries. Every so often, she checked out of the window to make sure Jack was still fully submerged in his fishing. After finally gathering everything she needed, she carried everything to the front of the cabin to set it all up, out of sight from her companion.  
  
"Ow! Damn it!" she cried indignantly when her first attempt sent a short, sharp shock of electricity through her fingertips.  
  
Soon she had the circuit safely set up with the wire tightly coiled around a hammer.  
  
Being careful not to electrocute herself again, she dragged the hammer across the piece of steel she had procured from the toolbox in the shed. At last, her homemade magnet was ready for action. She very carefully attached it to the top of the remote control submarine and took her entire experiment to the back of the cabin where Jack was sat by his line. He had begun to doze off slightly so was unaware of Sam's presence.  
  
Quietly, Sam set the submarine in the water and set it to dive. She sat back behind Jack and guided the toy towards the hook of his line. The movement in the water was enough to rouse Jack. He stared in disbelief as the float above his hook sank below the level of the water.  
  
"Sam!" he cried without looking behind. "I've caught something!"  
  
Sam didn't say anything. She just carried on pushing the sub further out, taking Jack's line with it.  
  
It was only when he managed to pull his catch out of the water that he realised he had been set up. Moreover, he noticed Sam's laughter that was becoming more and more hysterical with every second that went by.  
  
When Jack had the submarine safely back on land, he turned around to see her doubled up and rolling around on the decking behind him.  
  
Sam managed to pull herself together just in time to move before Jack pounced on her with a large handful of fish bate. She raced off around the lake, constantly pursued by Jack and his somewhat slimy missile. As she came back around to the cabin, Jack managed to head her off. But a rather nifty side-step saw her safe out of his way, even if it did bring her precariously close to the edge of the lake at a rather slippery point in her path. Luckily, she kept her footing. Jack was not so lucky.  
  
In hot pursuit, he wasn't exactly looking where he was going, and so missed Sam's successful attempt to stay dry. He hit the spot of mud at full momentum and, unfortunately, this momentum carried him straight into the lake. This, of course, only served to fuel Sam's amusement. Or at least it did until he didn't resurface.  
  
As the moments went passed, the laughter slipped from her face.  
  
"Jack?" she called after about a minute. "C'mon Jack! Quit fooling around!" Still he didn't resurface. She made her way out onto the jetty to see if she could see where he was. "Jack!" she shouted again beginning to panic. "JACK!"  
  
In all her commotion and panic, she never noticed the hand reach up between the planks of wood on the pier.  
  
Jack gently tapped her ankle, just hard enough to give her a bit of a fright. Of course, she had been so worked up with worry that this 'fright' was enough to provoke the most ear splitting scream imaginable. It also put her so far off balance that she toppled into the lake in much the same fashion that Jack had. It was now Jack's turn to laugh!  
  
*  
  
The fire was lit for the first time in years that night. Jack and Sam sat and shivered in front of it, sharing the single blanket that was usually draped over the sofa.  
  
"I didn't mean to push you in," Jack said when they were both settled with a large mug of coffee each.  
  
"Oh yeah right!" Sam replied.  
  
"No, honestly I didn't! . It was pretty funny, though. Don't think I could have planned it better myself . NOT THAT I DID ANYWAY!"  
  
Sam grinned as he dug himself further into a hole. He seemed to be do good at it and without any prompting from her.  
  
"You realise how much bribe material I have over you now!" she said.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing to what I've already got on you, honey!"  
  
Sam was intrigued to what he could possibly mean.  
  
"Such as?"  
  
"Such as your actions after visiting the 'touched', involving that lovely little tank top."  
  
Sam began to blush.  
  
"Then there was always that amazing blue dress!"  
  
"You've already told most people about that."  
  
"I have not!"  
  
"Well you've told Ferretti. That might as well be most people!"  
  
"Right. Then there's always the number of stakes you managed to put away when we had those damned arm bands!"  
  
"Yeah, but you managed about two for every one of mine!"  
  
Jack thought for a bit.  
  
"Jonah and Therra!" he said triumphantly.  
  
"You'd be incriminating yourself there as well!"  
  
"Not with the steam room I wouldn't!"  
  
Sam's face fell as the memory sprang into her mind. "You wouldn't!" she begged.  
  
Jack just grinned. "Wanna test that theory, Doctor?" he said with ironic intonation in his voice.  
  
Sam didn't dare reply his challenge and instead turned her attention to the dancing flames in the grate that she had previously been watching, reflected in his eyes. Before long, she felt her head become heavy, to the point at which she had no choice but to rest it on Jack's shoulder. At this, Jack wrapped his arm about her and rested his head on hers. Soon they were both fast asleep.  
  
*  
  
The next few days past fairly uneventfully. Sam played no more practical jokes and - surprise, surprise - Jack didn't catch any fish! Sam had managed to occupy her time, though, with what she hoped she would be able to when she got here. Amazingly, it didn't involve a laptop or any other form of modern technology.  
  
As the sun began to sink below the level of the surrounding trees on their last night there, Jack finally had had enough of Sam shrinking away every time he came by. He had to know what she was doing. It was time to use all that Black ops training again!  
  
He calmly walked past her with the last of his fishing gear and, as predicted, she hid what she was doing. Once everything was packed away, Jack crept back around the back of the cabin, making extra sure he didn't step on any of the creaky planks of wood in the way. At last, he was looking right over her shoulder and she had no idea he was even there.  
  
Sat on her lap was an A4 sized sketchbook with a pencil drawing of him in profile as he sat fishing. She was now finishing off the trees in the background. The picture was absolutely perfect.  
  
"Where did you learn to draw like that?" he asked sitting next to her on the back porch step. She didn't seem to be as surprised as he thought she would be to see him stood directly behind her.  
  
"I don't know. It's just something I've been working on for the last couple of years," she replied, finally satisfied with her drawing.  
  
Jack took it off her to take a better look at it.  
  
"Could I have this?" he asked tentatively.  
  
"Nah-ah. Not this one. Sorry. This one's going in the file," she said somewhat regretfully. Jack nodded, respecting her wishes. Although he could think of at least a dozen places it would look better than in a file. Wait a minute . FILE?  
  
"There's a file?" he said with raised eyebrows.  
  
"Yep. Two actually," she said.  
  
"Can I see them?"  
  
It took a little working but eventually, Sam agreed to show him the rest of her drawings back in Colorado Springs.  
  
*  
  
The trip back seemed to fly by. It was as if they just flew over three states from Minnesota to Colorado. But here they were, back home.  
  
Driving down Main Street, they saw a comfortingly familiar sight.  
  
"I swear that man lives in that place!" Jack commented on seeing Daniel's car parked outside the coffee shop.  
  
"I heard he asked Hammond if he could move into the apartment above it!" Sam retorted.  
  
The scary thing was, it could have been true!  
  
Before long, Jack pulled up in front of Sam's house and helped he unload her bags from the car. He had a feeling she might have forgotten about their agreement and was just about to go back to the car when she took hold of his hand and dragged him down to the basement. She rooted around in some of the boxes in the corner and eventually returned, to where she had left Jack at the bottom of the stairs, with two portfolios in her hands.  
  
Jack looked at all the drawings and sketches Sam removed from the first file. He was utterly astonished. He had known her for nearly five years now and never once had she said anything about how talented she was at art. If they had been in colour, he would have mistaken them for photographs.  
  
"You did all these?" he said in surprise.  
  
Sam nodded.  
  
"All of them? Seriously!?"  
  
"Yes. You like them?"  
  
"YEAH! They're amazing!"  
  
Sam's face lit up when he said that. Since high school, she had been very self-conscious about her drawings. There wasn't really a reason for it. She just had been.  
  
"So, have you done any nudes?" Jack asked with a glint in his eye.  
  
Sam returned the spark. "Only of Daniel, of course!"  
  
Jack's face visibly blanched. "You are kidding me, right?"  
  
Sam began to laugh so hard, she couldn't reply and ha to settle for what she hoped was an emphatic nod instead. Either way, Jack was left with a rather disturbing image of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic being replaced by Daniel and Sam!  
  
*  
  
A week later was Jack's birthday. As usual, he had kept it very quiet. He wasn't one to make a big fuss over these things. That didn't mean people had forgotten it, though. Quite the opposite. His locker was vastly filling up with cards from various people all over the base. His favourite, of course, was the one Sam had given him that sang 'Yellow Submarine' every time you opened it - a little reminder of their trip!  
  
Even their mission that day had gone smoothly. There was no ambush, no frenzied scramble to reach the gate before they were shot, and no diseases to find cures for in ten seconds flat and Daniel had managed to stay fully conscious the entire time. In short, it had been quite boring! The debriefing afterwards was, subsequently, over very quickly, making the weekend start even sooner.  
  
As he entered the locker room to gather his things together to go home, Sam was just about ready to leave.  
  
"Carter, you going home?" he said, making conversation.  
  
"Yeah, but Daniel, Teal'c and I were wondering if you wanted to join us for a drink later. You in?" she said closing her locker.  
  
"Sure."  
  
He carried on pulling his thing together but was aware of Sam still standing behind him. He glanced around just to check he wasn't imaging it and sure enough there she was, by the opposite wall, hands clasped behind her back. Her face showed a desire to say something but also a reluctance to start the conversation.  
  
"There something else?" he asked curiously.  
  
A smile crept across her face as she walked over to him, still holding her hands behind her.  
  
"Happy birthday, sir," she said producing a flat, neatly wrapped parcel from behind her.  
  
Jack was speechless. It wasn't often he was given birthday presents, especially not from anyone as agreeable as his 2IC. He took it from her and sat down on the bench in the middle of the locker room.  
  
Attached to the parcel was a small, square envelope. He opened it first an grinned madly when he saw the Polaroid picture taken of the two of them on the way to Minnesota.  
  
"How did you get this?" he asked.  
  
"I just asked for it . and had to give five dollars for it," Sam replied.  
  
"And invite them to our 'wedding'?"  
  
"Nah, that was just a cover story!"  
  
"Gee! Ya think!?"  
  
Sam came over and sat next to him on the bench, eager for him to open the parcel.  
  
For someone who was always so impatient to move from place to place, Jack didn't half take his time over opening presents. Sam was getting so anxious by the end the she nearly ripped the paper off for him.  
  
But he did eventually get to its contents and was completely lost for words when he held the picture in his hands. It was a perfect copy of the Polaroid that she had drawn. Only, there was one difference. She had softened the fluorescent lights of the dinner, so they seemed almost candle lit in her version. In doing so, she had made herself look even more beautiful to Jack than she already was (if that was at all possible).  
  
"Sam!" he said at last. "It's amazing!"  
  
He traced his finger across the pencil line of her face and down her back.  
  
"Well, you said you liked the other drawings so ." she said trying to relieve some of the tension that she was beginning to feel. "OK. So I'll see you later, right?"  
  
"Yeah . Wait. Before you go," he said, stopping her before she left.  
  
Sam was expecting him to say something profound or glib or just . anything! Instead, he just pulled her into a big bear hug.  
  
"Thank you," he said quietly in her ear.  
  
"No problem," she replied when he finally released her.  
  
She left soon after, leaving Jack to marvel at her gift for a while longer.  
  
'We're friends though, right?' he remembered her saying at the beginning of downtime.  
  
'Yeah, we're friends,' he thought. 'For now at least.'  
  
*  
  
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Sorry a lot of it was clichéd, but I couldn't help it. As I said before, I had a cold when I thought of this, so it's probably just the aspirin talking through (!). ANYWAY! Enough of me. Please R&R!!! 


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